Facades
by sineeqal
Summary: A/U: In a world of glitz and glamour, Takani Megumi is a fast climbing socialite who is living the dream. But one misstep, and it could all come crashing down. One shot.


**Warning: Adult situations and themes. Hit the back button if you****'****ve a moral compass. There is no shortage of sex, dubious liaisons and sex in this fic****. You****'****ve been warned. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. This fan fiction is purely the result of my imagination and does not belong in any way to the official story line. Any similarities between this and other works is unintended and coincidental. **

—

Megumi leaned against the window pane and sighed, closing her eyes blissfully as she breathed in the faint scent of mahogany. Outside, the first rays of dawn peeked through the midtown skyline, staining the white marble floor with soft streaks of gold while the world remained in undisturbed equilibrium between night and day.

For as long as she could remember, 53rd on Pickering had been an unattainable dream, cordoned off by sleek neighbouring buildings as pictured in her favourite luxury magazines. Exotic woodwork and historic parchment panels graced its interior, and the rooftop terrace, with its infinity edge pool overlooking Upper East, was lauded by many as the pinnacle of life on top.

It was, in other words, perfect.

And it was hers. Absentmindedly, Megumi flexed and traced the baseboard with her foot, relishing the feel of cool, painted wood on her toe as the thin, button-down shirt she wore hitched up around her hip, exposing the smooth, creamy skin of her upper thigh. Definitely not how one might expect to see 53rd's new reigning queen, though it wouldn't be long before the still scant penthouse was furnished with more luxurious items befitting many social events to come -

The approaching sound of footsteps - Milanos' - broke her reverie. Cinnamon coloured eyes opened to meet steel grey ones that regarded her cooly as their owner, a tall, bespectacled man dressed in a three-pieced cyan suit strode unhurriedly to where she was standing. One hand pre-occupied itself with a crimson knit scarf while the other grasped an elegant leather briefcase on which his name was embossed: _Takeda Kanryuu_.

"_Yare yare_, you'll catch a cold if you keep standing out here like a lost pigeon." He remarked as he handed the scarf over, his eyes sweeping over her form in a quick, critical glance. Megumi flushed and murmured something about liking the view, wrapping it around her neck while Kanryuu retrieved a ringing cellphone from his pocket.

"Takeda Kanryuu. _Hai_. I'll be down in three." Snapping the phone shut, he slid it back in his pocket as he deposited his briefcase on a similar looking piece of luggage.

"You're leaving? It's still early." Megumi pouted, arms crossed under her breasts. That posture, coupled with her slightly disheveled attire, made her every bit the picture of a neglected housewife.

Except like all other neglected housewives, it seemed to have little to no effect on its intended audience.

"They're expecting me at the plant, and I've to be at JFK by nine if I intend to catch that flight." Came his brisk reply. "And between a nit-picking board and a check-in line from hell, I still have traffic to deal with. So, no. It's not early at all."

Megumi gasped, mildly surprised when he took her hand, his long tapered fingers enclosed around hers in a mild caress. "There's a craft fair this weekend near the Boston office, I'll get you something nice from there. And then when I'm back," he continued, his voice a notch lower, "I'll show you how much I've missed you." Cool lips pressed against her forehead in a quick kiss, a chaste one in contrast to the suggestive undertones of his promise.

"Fine, but I'm not going to miss you at all," she quipped. She would be tagging along if not for her husband's belief that all expectant women should be made to lie down with their feet up, no matter how active or nimble they had been before they got a bun in the oven.

"Try not to fire anyone while you're there." She called after him, the memory of his last meeting in Beantown still fresh on their minds. Takeda Kanryuu was a man who could be mercilessly brutal when it came to securing his empire's burgeoning presence in the West, and the incumbent branch had been little more than an obstacle to his goal. Hopefully, though, the new guard would have gotten the message by now that he was not an ignorant businessman from the East. Hopefully.

The front door closed as he exited with a promise to call as soon as he'd landed. A few minutes passed as Megumi was left to revel in her newfound solitude and the anticipation of a bubble bath when the doorbell rang.

"Back so soon, _teishu_? Did you forget something-" Her voice all but died as she fully realised who was standing before her in the threshold.

Chiseled muscles bound by a creased white shirt taut with the outline of his torso. Untamed spikes that peaked at distinct angles or fell slightly past the top of his collar which he'd left unbuttoned. But most of all, it was the upward quirk of his mouth, the vaguely confident expression on his face that exuded both careless arrogance and the familiarity of the very man whose memory she had been trying to eradicate from her life.

"Hey."

"S-Sanosuke-" Megumi's hand went involuntarily to her abdomen as though propelled by some protective instinct toward an unknown charge. Except that she knew _what_ that charge was.

"Missed me?" He half-smirked, taking a tentative step toward her and that was when she bailed.

Bare limbs collided with concrete and she retched over the toilet bowl, the contents of her breakfast forcing their way out as her heart pounded loudly in her ears. The nausea went as quickly as it came, leaving her squatting in a semi-foetal position while she struggled to catch her breath. _He__'__s not supposed to be here._ She clasped her hand to her mouth and choked back a whimper.

"Megitsune-" A voice, softer this time and laced with concern sounded behind her.

A glass pitcher being hurled in his general direction was his only response.

"_Get out_, Sagara." She snarled. The door clicked shut behind her, followed by hurried footsteps and dark cursing that signalled his temporary accession to her demand for space. Fingers pressed to her temple to prevent an impending migraine, Megumi set about freshening up, knowing full well he would be poking around outside. _Of course he was going to find you here, Takani. What were you expecting?_ She berated herself silently, pushing aside the nagging thought of what might have happened if either one of them had arrived or left a minute earlier or later.

Calloused hands took her by the shoulders as soon as she stepped out and she was too worn out to protest against being led to the living room. He had, thankfully, had the sense to shut the front door in her absence, and the pitcher, an ornate collector's item which had shattered to pieces, had been cleaned up and possibly disposed. In fact, the only evidence of its once existing was the patch of shirt plastered to his body where it had hit and spilled water over his skin, skin she once knew so well.

"We need to talk." Even in her petty unsurety, Sanosuke couldn't help thinking that she still looked pretty damn cute: a normally pale face flushed from her earlier exertions, her cupid shaped lips slightly parted and the same intense red as the scarf which intertwined with her hair and pooled on her lap. Shame that a conservative silk bathrobe had been added to the ensemble, but understandably, there was no way Takani Megumi was about to exchange pleasantries with her ex dressed as she was at the door, or at least one of them was going to be very distracted.

And they could not afford distractions right now.

"Why are you here?" She asked, determined to ignore the way he sprawled across his end of the couch, arms splayed casually over the upholstery while he tucked one foot behind the skirt.

He cocked his head to one side and rubbed his neck. "To win you back." He said simply.

She huffed. Months ago, she would have found his mannerisms endearing. But now that the initial shock of seeing him again was starting to wear out, his presence did little to arouse that all too familiar feeling of vulnerability, thrill and want that flared at the back of her head. "I told you, it's over between us." Her voice was tainted with mild exasperation.

"You took off without saying anything." He pointed out moodily.

"You wouldn't stop calling!" She countered. "Kanryuu was going to find out. I couldn't let it happen."

"Really?" Sharp, black eyes bored into hers as he leaned forward, his posture vaguely predatory and his face quietly mocking."Takani Megumi thinks nothing of running the town past midnight, but texting in broad daylight is suddenly too much for her conscience to swallow?"

_That. Hurt. _

"No," She prickled with barely concealed anger. "You knew full well a happy ending wasn't in the cards when you dragged me to your bed. We had a fling that you took too seriously and I'm not letting that jeopardise _my_ marriage and _my_ life!"

"Look, I'm sorry," he relented, his face tinged with remorse. "I shouldn't have."

"I don't want to hear it." She squeezed her eyes shut as they brimmed, clear, crystal drops streaming down her cheeks. After all this time, he still had the power to make her temper flare at his slightest provocation and she hated it.

"I know, I know." Reaching forward, he pulled her in, fitting one arm around her abdomen while encircling her shoulders with the other so that she lay face up on his upper body. "But I think we've put this off for far too long."

Megumi's eyes flicked toward the ceiling and she wished, for a moment, that things were different and she could melt into his warm embrace without a care in the world. The familiarity of their contact and their unwarranted proximity was doing things to her emotional and physical state, as she recalled it being their favourite position when they were not walking hand in hand or lying tangled in each other's limbs in the dead of night.

It was, coincidentally, also how they'd first met.

—

Christmas was two weeks away when Sanosuke spotted Megumi storming out of Takeda Holdings. She had almost slipped and fallen on the frost covered sidewalk if he hadn't passed by and caught her from behind.

He had insisted on taking her to a nearby coffee house even though she wasn't visibly hurt. It wasn't until an hour later, when they'd had a couple of drinks and made small talk, that he learned that she was the wife of Takeda Kanryuu, a fast rising entrepreneur who had bailed on dinner with her over a business meeting for the umpteenth time. That both strangers hailed from the same prefecture, where she'd had big dreams about moving to the city.

He'd also found out that he couldn't take his eyes off her. How an hour was enough for leave him enthralled by her petite, slender frame, and the quiet elegance with which she carried herself even in the simple act of lifting her cup to those sweet lips. Part of him ached to find out everything he could about her.

By the time they stepped out, Tokyo was blanketed in unexpectedly heavy snowfall. Sanosuke put his scarf around her, bundled her in a cab home and passed her an address so she could return his favourite scarf another day.

But somehow, that day never came. There was something about his roguish charisma that kept her coming back for more, at first on a platonic level and then gradually, on fully intimate terms. Or maybe the promise of companionship was too irresistible to a woman whose husband provided everything except comfort. Whichever it was, it wasn't long before the scarf was hers, along with a piece of his heart and soul.

She warned him that their relationship was foolhardy at best, that her husband was a dangerous man who could destroy him for taking what was his. He'd laughed and said that it didn't matter that he already knew what was coming to him and didn't care anyway.

It was then Megumi found out about his involvement in private investigation. Or rather, had him tell her after the first night they slept together. Under other circumstances she should have been intimidated by how much he managed to glean off their private lives, yet that only drew them closer. With Sanosuke's voluntary, relentless prying, there was no need to tiptoe around the taboo topics. Like her husband's infrequent, half-hearted attempts at intimacy long after their honeymoon. His unnecessarily close dealings with his male subordinates. Or his degeneration into an incoherent rampage during the few times he came under the influence.

He was unabashed and unapologetic in the way he uncovered her secrets. But Megumi didn't mind, because he hadn't walked out in disgust and disbelief the way her half-brother, Aoshi did when she tried confiding in him months before. Perhaps after years of dismantling little facades all over Tokyo in his line of work, Sanosuke was perfectly content with walking into one of his own.

And so began their charade between being strangers and lovers. He was the sheath to her double edged blade of glamour and neglect; she was his side dish of carnal heroin that he took to bed whenever he had the chance. If Kanryuu was the cool, sophisticated man whom she accompanied at the grand gatherings of the who's-who, Sanosuke was her paramour with the rakish charm and uninhibitedness she could not dare to be seen with. He, in turn, lost himself in their affair and cared little for the potential repercussions. Both were completely satisfied with this double existence, until a tiny blue cross showed up on her pregnancy test kit one morning.

—

Sensing that she had relaxed considerably, Sanosuke dipped forward and rested his chin in the crook of her neck. Feathering his thumb ever so slightly across the curve of her stomach, he asked, "How long?"

Megumi shifted abruptly and glared at him. "If you think you're getting a tumble for old times sake just because my husband is out of town -" She started.

His fingers made another circular motion as he repeated his question, his voice deceptively even. "How. Long."

The unspoken implication of his question sank in and her eyes widened in shock. _He knows._ Outwardly, she snapped. "That's none of your business." _Of course even a chicken-headed idiot like him would know after that little stunt you pulled in the toilet._ "_Let go Sagara_."

"No," Sanosuke drawled. Fully cupping her with both hands and narrowly avoiding an elbow to his ribcage, he continued. "You're going to give me some answers first."

Her lips pursed and she rolled her eyes. "Is that what you're playing at now? Japan's greatest investigator looking for answers in the horse's mouth when he can get them from a dozen other witnesses?"

He sighed. "Because I want to hear it from you this time."

He loosened his hold and she seized the chance to free herself. Spinning around she faced him squarely, unintimidated by her face being mere inches away from his. She had to stop him there and then or she was going to lose every counter-argument she had with him.

"Listen to me." She ordered, assertion in every fibre of her being. "We had a good run, but that's it. I don't care that you found out that I'm pregnant, but I don't need you waltzing back in and making a bigger mess than there already is. So you can forget about having your hand in this because it has nothing to do with you!"

"Yes it does, you're carrying my child!"

Megumi's heart sank past her stomach and all the way to her toes. She hadn't anticipated him hitting the nail so accurately on the head, and vocalising it was another thing altogether. "I… I never said it was yours…" _How did he - I can__'__t - _

Sanosuke's hands caught her wrists and pinned them to her thighs. "No," he said heatedly. There was minimal pressure in his hold but his stance suggested otherwise if she tried to resist. Temptation surged through him at her unguardedness, the way he held her both physically and mentally, and culminated in an overall desire to press himself against her and re-claim ownership of everything he could and couldn't lay his eyes on. But first he had to break down whatever barriers she had set up against him.

"You wanna know what I think?" He asked. She shook her head but he continued anyway. "I think you panicked. We might've been happy for as long as we lasted but a baby wasn't part of the plan. You couldn't juggle between us and keeping your pregnancy a secret for long, so you took advantage of your husband one night and finished him off hoping he would be none the wiser. Am I right?"

"Sano.. please.."

"You thought you could get rid of me by moving away. But you can't, Megumi. I will track you down again and again until I get back what's mine." He promised.

_Not good, he's not giving up. I'll have to try something else. Perhaps- _She lifted her chin stubbornly. "What about Kanryuu? The fact remains that we're still married. You can't expect me to disregard everything he's done for me and leave it all behind. Besides, it's not just about me anymore. He's driven, despite everything, and he knows what he wants and has everything in his power to give us what we need."

Impatience overtook Sanosuke and he cursed. He hadn't intended on bringing it up but she left him no choice. He would rather make her hurt now than leave her to find her world crumbling around her and not know why.

"_Kuso_, Megumi, do you really believe this whole arrangement with Kanryu is going to last forever? Saitou started undercover investigations on him for money laundering, but somehow, someone told him first. That's why he's sinking all his funds here in the hopes that the authorities can't seize everything if and when their suspicions are confirmed."

His voice took on a gentler tone as he noted the change in her expression from stubborn to pained. "I know what it looks like: your fairytale husband was so overjoyed at the thought of becoming a father that he got you this little palace of yours. Kanryuu may have been able to give you the things I couldn't have, but he's at the end of his tether and he'll burn sooner or later."

Silence. Then, her fist thumped hard against his chest but he didn't try to stop her. "How do you _always_ manage to know everything-" She gritted.

He shrugged. "Jealous people make the best detectives." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Or do they just set out what they wanted to find anyway?" Part of her rebelled at what she had to say but she pushed those feelings aside. "It doesn't matter. Even if we fall apart, what makes you think the same won't happen to us? You're impulsive, you never give me space, and I can never be with a man as crass as you."

"_Naruhodo_. If that's the case, why is your wedding band off and my scarf on you?"

Megumi faltered, her mouth going dry as she remembered that her ringer was bare, having stripped it of its titanium and diamond band when she was ridding herself of ejecta earlier on.

Just what had possessed her to wrap that strip of fabric around her like a protective token?

"I'm waiting." Sanosuke pressed.

"_Sanosuke no baka!_" She sat up straight, wishing she had several meters of distance and buffers between them. "You've overthinking it. Whatever I put on me or not has nothing to do with-"

"No, I think it does." He interrupted, his gaze intensified and his tone decidedly firm and warning and needy all at once. "You've put this up for long enough, but it's time you stopped lying to yourself. You want me, Kitsune. You still do-"

"Sanosuke, don't-" Megumi said, her voice rising in panic even as her blood hummed with anticipation at his next words.

"And I want you, too." He finished. His mouth covered hers and he kissed her thoroughly, cutting off any argument that lingered on the tip of her tongue. All bets were off as her impulse to fight caved in to that all too familiar instinct to reign him in as his tongue pushed past lips and teeth to mingle with her own. Hands freed, she buried them in his wild, luscious mane as she stifled a moan at the back at her throat. She had lost the battle of wills on all fronts, and lost it wholly.

Lips nipping greedily at the smooth column of her neck, Sanosuke leaned back and settled her on top of him, heedless of the fact that they had kicked or pushed the expensive imported cushions to the floor in the process. Both parted momentarily for air as he fixed his gaze heatedly on the paramount of beauty and desire who, at the moment, was straddling him ever so enticingly in the middle of the highest living room on Upper East. _Beautiful. _

"You said I'm crass," He spoke, his breathing ragged from the intensity of their kiss. "But I'm going to show you how much of a temple your body is to me. Starting now." Deftly untying her sash, he flung it to the other end of the room where it hung off the edge of a mantlepiece. Her bathrobe followed suit. This done, he set about unbuttoning her shirt, parting the translucent fabric from the bottom up.

Megumi's breath hitched when his mouth found her navel, his tongue dipping in and out of the divot in her skin as he thoroughly enjoyed her reaction to his touch. Quick, quiet gasps turned into breathy moans as he alternated between caressing and dropping open kisses along her abdomen as if paying tribute to a treasure within. While his mouth paid full attention to her lower torso, his hands pressed against the curve of her back till the apex of her thighs centered on the hardened ridge in his pants, the combined sensations stirring a curiously gratifying ache from inside out.

No longer able to resist his assault, she gave in to her carnal instincts and tugged haphazardly at his shirt. Slender fingers splayed across a firm expanse of fabric and muscle as she sought control over his body and over the increasingly pliant state of her own flesh. Heeding her unspoken demand for more, Sanosuke paused, grinned, and shed his top, deliberately prolonging the process so he could display the entirety of what she'd missed for the past months. Heated skin met heated skin; his mouth cleverly kneaded her smooth, flawless breasts into stiff, rosy peaks while she rocked rhythmically against him, fully reciprocating his ministrations.

Lips locked on his, she was vaguely aware of him lifting her off the couch and maneuvering them into the guest room, where he gently pressed her down on a lone double bed. Soft Egyptian cotton graced her back and she curved against it, savouring the luscious feeling of skin on fabric.

"Look at you." He mummured. His lover looked completely sensuous beneath him - milky white skin glowing from the aftermath of his touch, the curves of her body significantly more prominent, thanks to the combined effects of the early stages of being with child and her pronounced attempts to catch her breath. His scarf was the only thing that remained entwined around her form and it aroused a most base impulse to wrap it around his knuckles and show her what "bound to him" truly meant.

Megumi opened her mouth but lost all will to speak. Her eyes followed his hand as it traced the scarf, between the valley of her breasts, over the still taut skin of her stomach and finally down south to the dampness between her thighs which he wasted no time parting with his knees.

"I wonder-" Sanosuke rested his knuckle on the tip of her womanhood and rotated it against her, gradually increasing the pressure on her centre until he heard his name escape along with a strangled cry. She gasped, facing away from him in a moment of shyness as her hips lifted involuntarily off the bed. He chuckled and lowered himself onto her, relishing every newfound bit of intimacy and dominance he had over her mind and body. "Still want your space, Kitsune?" He asked, addressing her by her pet name that never failed to make her weak in the knees.

Megumi smirked weakly at him as his fingers gently invaded her heated flesh. "Will you let me if I do?"

"_No_." His word was final and echoed both their sentiments. She broke off into a whimper as his fingers slid further north. "Tell me where you want me." His instincts screamed at him to continue but he forced himself to remain still.

"You."

"_Where._" He growled. _So close, Kitsune. Just a bit more - _

"In me." She finally managed. Eyes glazed with lust and passion, she fixed her gaze on him, bracing herself on his forearms as her inner muscles clenched around the rising wave of pleasure. "I want you in me. I love you, Sanosuke. I need you."

That was all he needed to hear. His jeans and boxers barely hit the floor before he was bent over her again, his eyes burning with salacious need but also desire to be with her once more. He kissed her briefly on the edge of her jaw before deciding that enough was enough. Gritting his teeth, he slowly let himself in, pausing only to let her body accommodate him after a prolonged period apart. Her legs gripped either side of his perfectly sculpted waist, the heightened sensitivity of her body intensifying the effect of their copulation as she dug into his back, begging him to satisfy her once and for all and he did, grounding out her name as they thrust into each other with increasing ardour till they both went over the edge.

Several minutes passed before Sanosuke finally untangled their limbs, rolling over on the crumpled sheets and enveloping her in his arms to shade her from the now glaring sunlight. Stirred by his movement, Megumi opened her eyes and surveyed their surroundings.

The room was in a state of semi-chaos after their lovemaking, but that was just the way he was: insatiable, unbridled and untamed. And the truth of the matter was she wanted him more than anything else. She was tired of drifting off by herself in an empty house, pretending to everyone and herself that this was what she wanted. No - what Takani Megumi truly craved was to fall into his embrace every night and wake up in his arms the morning after, more than all the diamonds and antique pieces that money could buy. Sagara Sanosuke had reached past the depths of her soul and fulfilled her in ways that Kanryu could never try to reach, and she was sure there wasn't a single person in the world who would come close to doing the same.

"Well." Megumi traced Sanosuke's forearm absentmindedly as he looked down at her.

"You're not bringing up my child with that demon." His tone was final even as he avoided the profanities he usually reserved for her soon to be ex husband. Even now he was making the conscious effort to shield his unborn from the crude overtones of his world, a fact that made her smile to herself.

"That's a given." Megumi snorted, shifting about so she could rub her nose against his chest, the warm, musky scent of amber and sandalwood filling her senses. She paused, her next question hanging heavy in the air.

"I have more money than you think, Kitsune." Sanosuke assured her. "Not as much as him now, but it's something. I'll make sure you never have or hide or be scared about having the carpet pulled from under your feet. You just have to let me."

She closed her eyes and buried herself deeper in the warm cocoon of his skin. "I'm scared," She whispered.

"I know." There was no finality to his words this time, but she found it strangely comforting all the same as fatigue overcame her. Kanryuu's days were numbered, that was certain, and there was no rational reason to continue to binding herself to him. Whatever remaining issues between her and Sanosuke they could hammer out later.

"_J__'__adore_, Kitsune." He sighed and gently kissed her temple. Silence enveloped them as they drifted off in post-coital slumber, blissfully unaware of the rising sun and the world awakening outside.

**The End. **

_Author__'__s Note:_ Whew! There goes my first one shot. I think it ran a little longer than I expected and I didn't anticipate having to make it as fully fleshed out as I ended up doing (longer than the papers I wrote for serious stuff in college, heh).

Why an affair? I know the dynamics between SanoMeg tend to run along the lines of: they deserve to be together, but there's someone in between and he's always the evil one etc. I just didn't want to fall into those cliches so complicating their relationship as such seemed to open a pretty interesting avenue for this fic. SanoMeg's entanglement is part everyday bickering, part moral dubiousness which made it sort of fun to play around until I got down to the actual writing.

Why the smattering of revelations? Simple: they're having an affair, she's not happy but there needs to be a concrete enough pull out of their sham marriage instead of just one to three, let's jump into bed then marry me! (Hey that rhymes)

Total effort spanned 3 weeks, with mad props to my beta reader who kindly worked out the kinks over various parts of the writing. I originally intended this to be a songfic, but somehow none of the lyrics I listened to while writing fitted in with the text, so I left that idea altogether and went for pure text instead. If you're wondering, I had London Grammar, Lorde, and Lana Del Rey playing in that order (alliteration for the win!).

Gosh I've said a lot. Favourite if you like it, or leave a review and let me know what you think about it! As always, some love is more than welcome. :)


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